lowercase L

Office 2010

2009-07-10T01:44:00.003-04:00

"Intelligence has confirmed a hacker has released a rogue font on the Internet ... We need to identify this threat and eliminate it."

I wonder if this rogue font is all uppercase letters ... except for the L?

"All the world's fonts are at stake ... Double-space, widen the margins, increase the font size!"

Annoyed with ARNOlD

2009-07-07T19:39:00.002-04:00

VJ of Berlin found this clip on German daily news service, Tagesschau.de, in which picketers in California are protesting Governor Schwarzenegger and his budget cuts. The sign reads "No more furloughs, NO MORE ARNOlD!" I don't think this was a crunch case, since the author had plenty of room for his oversized exclamation point.

I can just imagine what the Governator would say if he saw his name written like this ...

"L be back!"

RED MElON

2009-07-04T20:05:00.003-04:00

HARlEM lowercase L contributor PES found these RED MElON SEEDS. I'm sure that, like any sane person, he didn't eat them. Instead, he probably incorporated them into a stop motion animation:

Happy 4th of July!

KAlAMAZOO

2009-06-29T21:16:00.003-04:00

Ali O gets extra credit for sending this one in:

So this one is from my history teacher, whom I've had for two years now. He's always written notes like this and it has always bothered me. When I saw your blog I was like, "Yes! Other people understand!" So I had to get a picture of it. Plus, his handwriting is horribe which just adds to the overall annoyance factor. Sorry about the quality of it, sort of a spur-of-the-moment decision and all I had was my phone.

KAlAMAZOO COllEGE is pretty great, but I wonder what film was presented by the MUSlIM STUDENT ASSOCIATION ... maybe New Muslim Cool? Either way, what I especially like is that the professor took extra care to serif the capital i in MUSlIM so it is distinctly i-ish, but made the L extra lowercase. This is a fundamental Muslim mistake.

OlD People

2009-06-28T23:57:00.003-04:00

I spotted this graffiti on the Williamsburg Bridge a while ago: OlD people think, adult's assume, kid's know. Know what? Not how to use apostrophes for plurals vs. possessives, that's for sure. This was probably written by one of Williamsburg's finest.

GOD BlESS US

2009-06-22T23:12:00.002-04:00

Over the weekend here in NYC, Rooftop Films showcased New Muslim Cool, a documentary film about Puerto Rican American rapper Hamza Pérez and his journey from drug dealer to religious Muslim. The movie, directed by Jennifer Maytorena Taylor, is getting impressive international recognition, and is even being featured on POV on PBS. But would the film be getting this much attention if it had not been for this production still of the words GOD BlESS US written with all uppercase letters — except for the L — in graffiti on a public trash can in the North Side of Pittsburgh?

This is not the first case of a graffiti BlESS!

Cake Wake

2009-06-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

In the wake of yesterday's Father's Day cake, we've got two more confectionary catastrophes to share here on lowercase L. Chris H. returns to PlAY BALL with this baseball themed cake. As Chris points out, at least they spelled "NATIONALS" correctly, unlike the team's uniforms.

And Ashley found this super cupcake caption concocted by Retro Bakery in Las Vegas. I understand that it would have been difficult to fit the five letters of AllAN into a six-cupcake wide array symmetrically, but this just goes to show you that what happens in Vegas doesn't necessarily stay in Vegas. It plagues you forever ... in the form of photographic evidence of disregard for the proper use of lowercase L's.

WORlD'S BEST DAD

2009-06-20T14:19:00.004-04:00

Discovered on Cake Wrecks, a blog devoted to terrible cake designs, Linda honors us with a Father's Day find. At least this cupcake for the WORlD'S BEST DAD got the apostrophe right. It looks like the cake decorator forgot that he was writing on a cupcake, and didn't realize he was running out of space until it was too late. Check out some of the other Father's Day cakes on Cake Wrecks. The lowercase L may be the icing on the cake, but the FAtHER'S DAY ONLY with its mysterious capitalization certainly takes the cake.

Related: In a WORlD

BBCl

2009-06-19T17:37:00.004-04:00

Leo X Daniels found this bevy of bastardized BBC badges at a recent training event. These name tags were for some of the employees who did not show up, including SHAWNY BUCKlEY, DANIEllE HENDRY, SARAH WIlCOCK, BEN EAGlETON, and ClAIRE WAlKER. Leo especially liked the CHARlOTTE COOK tag, and thought it would have been nice to meet someone with a name like Chariotte. But I suspect these no-shows didn't make it to the training session with good reason.

PlUS EXClUDES

2009-06-17T23:44:00.002-04:00

Besides the obvious lowercase L offenses in these two photos submitted by Eric C, there are two other details worth noting. First, in both of these signs found at the deli in the Kroger store on East Broad Street in Columbus, Ohio, an uppercase U follows the lowercase L. Also, PlUS and EXClUDES are sort of antonyms. What is the significance, you might ask? Yes, you might ask that.

Goodwill ClOSED

2009-06-07T23:28:00.002-04:00

Terence P. was shocked, SHOCKED! to find that this Portland, Maine Goodwill store was ClOSED.

AlBA Alibi

2009-06-06T00:00:00.002-04:00

I found this at Tops on the Waterfront in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The bottle may say alba, but that AlBA BOTANICA sign definitely says "Aiba". No question about it, no excuses.

And the price is 402 S.gg each.

MALI WORlD

2009-06-05T01:47:00.003-04:00

Ashley says of her find:

I recently participated in a Model United Nations conference. The delegation sitting in front of mine, while not very attentive parliamentarians, were very entertaining. This is what one of them did with their placard. Mali-Worid?

See related:
MAll TRAGEDY
In a WORlD

Real lIVE Mermaid

2009-06-03T23:50:00.003-04:00

Paul A. found this fishy ad for Real lIVE Mermaid swimming appearances AND entertainment! Looks like a case of delayed caps lock, which may be true of all ONlINE examples. At the time of writing this post — embarrassingly, more than six months after receiving Paul's wonderful tip — the website still boasts the lowercase L, so check it out lIVE. I wonder how long it will last now that the jig is up?

If you live in New York, don't forget about the Mermaid Parade on Coney Island, June 20, 2009.

FlAME War

2009-05-22T15:56:00.003-04:00

Sofar likes to eat at a little restaurant called FlAME in Seattle. I'm assuming he goes for the burgers, and not the consistent use of uppercase L's, judging from these photos he took at the joint, which he describes as "one of those put-customers'-drawings-on-the-wall-type places."

Sofar softens the blow:

This one looks as though it was done by a kid, which makes it excusable, but I included it anyway because of the juxtaposition of the lowercase L and the uppercase I with serifs. Also I think it's funny when people start writing something on a sign and misjudge how much space they'll need.

I beg to differ, Sofar. It isn't excusable when kids do it, and it isn't funny.

AlDWYCH

2009-05-20T12:25:00.000-04:00

Gary C is back with another FREEZE FRAME FIlM FIND. This miniature playing card, stuck to the bottom of a beer mug in The Prestige wasn't easy to find, especially since I was fast forwarding through the movie specifically to find it, based on Gary's tip. I resorted to searching for the term "card" in the movie script I found online, then honed in on that five second bit based on listening for the dialogue around it, and corresponding that dialogue to the script.

Screenshot taken around 01:35:15. The scene unfolds as written in the movie script on page 100:

INT. PUBLIC HOUSE -- NIGHT

Cutter is finishing his meal at the bar. He goes to take a swig from his pint and FREEZES- at the bottom of the glass: A PLAYING CARD. He looks around the bar. No one he recognizes. He reaches into the glass.

Cutter pulls out the card- an ADDRESS is written up one side.

And for the cartophiles out there, here is the actual 230 AlDWYCH, LONDON, where the restaurant Thai Square can be found:

View Larger Map

MEATlOAF: Bat out of L

2009-05-16T22:41:00.004-04:00

MEATlOAF always gets a bad rap. This menu board entrée, discovered by Alex C at Esther's Deli in Salt Lake City, is no exception. It conjures up images of Meat Loaf and his Bat out of Hell album, which is appropriate, since the guy who prepared this menu might have had all the letters, ... but out of L's.

At least they got the BLT right.

Five Star no-L

2009-05-14T22:20:00.004-04:00

Chris the Yard Sale Queen is back with another find, this time from Hollywood, Maryland. What's impressive about this sign, "STORE ClOSiNG PlEASE COME TO OUR lOCAT. IN HOllYWOOD", is that there are five — count 'em, FIVE — lowercase L's used where uppercase L's should be. The presence of the lowercase i in ClOSiNG is a nice attempt to balance the lowercase L situation, but it doesn't help much. This could technically qualify as an example of limited letter real estate, as is evident with the abbreviated lOCATION and the dangling D in HOllYWOOD. But it still makes me wonder what's up with these stencil letter kits always lacking uppercase L's. Do they just expect sign writers to construct their own uppercase L's by juxtaposing two lowercase L's?

A Bad PlACE

2009-05-12T17:15:00.003-04:00

Our final Rimpy Week submission, found on tofutti break, asks the question, "IS This PlACe GReAt OR What!" Rather, it exclaims the question, by using an exclamation mark instead of a question mark. But more worrisome is the dysgraphic use of a random mix of upper and lowercase letters. Of course, the only one we're concerned about is the lowercase L, as in PlACe. And, no, the entranceway pictured above is clearly not a great place.

TRANSFER to REDBlUFF

2009-05-10T22:20:00.002-04:00

In our continuing saga of The Home Depot offenses submitted by serious lowercase L contributor, Rimpy, we bring you this box, found in the receiving area of Rimpy's Home Depot, scheduled for TRANSFER to REDBlUFF. Unfortunately, it may never make it there, considering Red Bluff should be two words, and, like the T and R in TRANSFER, the rest of the letters will probably wipe off the clear tape wrap.

In this instance, I think the author probably wrote REDBUFF without an L, and squeezed in the lowercase L as an afterthought.

BLOODY BIG YARD SAlE

2009-05-07T23:46:00.002-04:00

As part of Rimpy Week, I'm posting another find by our lowercase L sleuth who goes by the name Rimpy Rimpington. In this excellent example — which reminds me of my earliest exposure to the lowercase L phenomenon — not only is there a BiG YARD SAlE, but according to Rimpy, up close the sign looks like it was written with a bloody finger! So I'm willing to excuse the missing stroke on what should be an uppercase L, as the author may have been trying to conserve blood.

A SINGlE Mistake

2009-05-06T00:05:00.003-04:00

In this second installment from Rimpy Rimpington, we revisit Home Depot, where they advise us to SAVE WITH A SINGlE.

Dim BUlBS at Home Depot

2009-05-05T01:25:00.003-04:00

An avid lowercase L reader, known only as Rimpy Rimpington of The Punctuator, (formerly The Rants In My Pants), has recently submitted a slew of fine examples that are so good, I've decided to devote this week to his work.

So for this first installment of Rimpy's Week, we the employee who posted this sign was not the brightest of LIGHT BUlBS in the store.

And this one, while not as bad, is a few SlABS in the face of reasonable writing.

More lowercase L's from Rimpy in the days to come!

Brooklyn Blogfest 2009

2009-05-04T22:10:00.003-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, it has been another busy month. But I will be making time to attend the Brooklyn Blogfest 2009 this Thursday in DUMBO, so if you happen to be a fellow blogger or fan in the area, stop by and tell me your lowercase L stories in person.

GOlF

2009-04-08T12:52:00.004-04:00

FORE! Jo and Kevin Hawke found this readerboard sign in front of the Squire Armory in Danville, Virginia. The photos represent BOTH sides of the sign, so it's no fluke.

The frequency of lowercase L's used in lieu of uppercase L's on readerboards makes me wonder if the readerboard manufacturers simply don't distribute enough uppercase L's in the packages, and maybe it's not the fault of the sign authors.

Sign up? Unfortunately, this should be a sign down.